State of Oklahoma Archives: on Government Reform

Gary Jones:
Increased audits despite budget cuts

Gary has sought to expand government accountability and improve the delivery of government services. Besides being a CPA, he is also a Certified Fraud Examiner. Despite a steady decrease in appropriated funds to conduct various
audits of public entities, under his leadership the State Auditor's Office has increased the quantity of audits it conducts without sacrificing the quality of the work product and he's doubled the number of CPAs on staff.

Mike Workman:
Supports automatic voter registration

Workman's campaign issues are all in the right place: he's for income equality, a $15 minimum wage, expanding the Affordable Care Act with the goal of eventual universal coverage, comprehensive immigration reform including a path to citizenship, and
automatic voter registration. He's unapologetically pro-choice and in favor of common sense gun laws, although in Oklahoma he might get farther by advocating the sale of assault rifles to fetuses.

Source: Wonkette.com on 2016 Oklahoma Senate race
Jun 26, 2016

James Inhofe:
Photo ID for voting

Question topic: People should be able to vote without photo identification.

Matt Silverstein:
Not a dime from any lobbyists in campaign donations

Sen. Jim Inhofe banked nearly $787,000 for his re-election campaign from July through September, while Democratic challenger Matt Silverstein topped $100,000 in his first full quarter of fundraising. The senator's haul included more than
$152,000 from political action committees.

"We still have over a year to go and we will continue to gain steam," Silverstein said in a statement. "We're also proud we haven't taken a dime from any lobbyists."

Weiland said, "Mike Rounds has now caved in twice, to big money by boasting he will raise $9 million from out of state big money sources, and also to the extreme right wing of the GOP by supporting Ted Cruz's blackmail scheme [shutting down] the
United States government. I call on him to explain why he has thrown his lot in with Cruz and the extremists when his entire career, until he decided he had to pander to win a primary election,
was in opposition to the kind of big money extremism he has now embraced," Weiland said.

At the beginning of his campaign, Weiland issued a pledge to Rounds asking him to agree to limit contributions to both campaigns to a maximum of $100.
Rounds refused the pledge and also turned down Weiland's offer to meet with him to discuss ways in which they could reduce the impact of big money on the race.

Matt Silverstein:
Inhofe says he's for term limits, but was in for 26 years

As Silverstein spoke about Inhofe, it was increasingly clear that he was painting him as an unprincipled "creature of Washington" whose seemingly self-serving principles are troubling to voters, while at the same time being increasingly out of touch with
the everyday needs of 21st century Oklahomans.

"Jim Inhofe has been on the taxpayer's payroll since 1967," noted Silverstein. "He is now asking for 26 years in the US Senate, the entire time saying he supports term limits for politicians."

Jim Bridenstine:
First Amendment includes campaign spending

Q: Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?

A: No. The First Amendment prohibits any infringement on free speech.
People have the right to spend their own money as they wish to support political campaigns.
Corporations and unions should be able to make direct and indirect contributions to campaigns. However, those contributions and the identities of the entities receiving them must be disclosed.
No corporate or union funds derived from union dues or other payments compulsory as a condition of employment should be eligible as a source of direct or indirect campaign contributions.

James Lankford:
Extend indefinitely pledge against earmarks

In 2010, House Republicans pledged not to request any earmarks for one year. That pledge should be extended indefinitely and the earmark process should be abolished from the House rules unless there are significant reforms to the earmark process.

Stop spending so much money! Stop spending what we do not have! The reason the federal government does not have enough money is because it is doing too many things. My grandparents would NEVER have said, "Things are tough, so I think I will make it
easier on me by making it tougher on my grandchildren." But that is exactly what current Washington leaders are doing. Federal government policies should not encourage more personal or national debt.

We must also stop the rapid acceleration of federal
regulation to encourage business owners to hire more employees and invest more money. Until we have less federal spending and more private sector hiring, we will not grow our economy and pay down our debt. [Source: jameslankford.com/category/spending ]

Joe Dorman:
Require photo ID to vote, but extend early voting

Dorman voted YEA on SB4: a bill that requires voters to provide photo identification in order to vote on election day, on April 1, 2009, Bill Passed House (71-27).

Specifies that a document containing a photograph of the voter that was issued
by the state, the federal government, a county, a municipality, or a federally recognized Indian tribe may be used to show proof of identity

Allows for individuals unwilling or unable to provide proof of identification to sign an
oath affirming his or her identity and subsequently cast a provisional ballot

Provides guidelines for the proper handling of provisional ballots

Extends the early voting period to begin at 1:00pm the Wednesday preceding a General Election (Sec. 6).

Dorman voted NAY on HB 1037, which passed the House (59-39) on March 11, 2009, which was identical to SB4 except that Sec. 6 was omitted (no early voting period)

Scott Inman:
Require photo ID to vote, but extend early voting

Inman voted YEA on SB4: a bill that requires voters to provide photo identification in order to vote on election day, on April 1, 2009, Bill Passed House (71-27).

Specifies that a document containing a photograph of the voter that was issued
by the state, the federal government, a county, a municipality, or a federally recognized Indian tribe may be used to show proof of identity

Allows for individuals unwilling or unable to provide proof of identification to sign an
oath affirming his or her identity and subsequently cast a provisional ballot

Provides guidelines for the proper handling of provisional ballots

Extends the early voting period to begin at 1:00pm the Wednesday preceding a General Election (Sec. 6).

Dorman voted NAY on HB 1037, which passed the House (59-39) on March 11, 2009, which was identical to SB4 except that Sec. 6 was omitted (no early voting period)

T.W. Shannon:
Require photo ID in order to vote

Vote to pass a bill that requires voters to provide photo identification issued by the federal, state or a tribal government or a county-issued voter identification card in order to vote on election day.

Allows for individuals unwilling or unable to provide proof of identification to sign an oath affirming his or her identity and subsequently cast a provisional ballot.

Provides guidelines for the proper handling of provisional ballots.

Extends the early voting period to begin at 1:00pm the Wednesday preceding a General Election.

Brad Henry:
Extend early voting to a full week prior to Election Day

No freedom is more precious than the right to vote. Government of the people and for the people requires participation by the people. Record voter turnouts across the nation last
November were cause for celebration, but long lines and discouraging waits were cause for concern.

Early in-person voting has been hugely successful in Oklahoma and other states.
I call on you to help boost voter participation by making it easier and more convenient for our citizens to vote.
Let's extend early voting in our state by four days, allowing voters to cast their votes for a full week prior to Election Day.

Source: 2009 State of the State address to Oklahoma legislature
Mar 2, 2009

Andrew Rice:
Most donations from individuals; most of Inhofeís from PACs

Q: In terms of fund-raising, does money for your campaign come more from groups and organizations, or is it from individual donors?

A: The overwhelming majority is from individuals. The only type of group that could give us money is a Political Action
Committee, and I think itís accounted for less than 4%. Part of that is the nature of how these campaigns are. When you run against an incumbent, thereís a lot of political action committees that represent different industries, different interest groups
that arenít going to go against the incumbent because they donít want to upset the incumbent. Therefore, they may have a bill thatís coming that affects, say, the manufactures, and they want to go see them, and you know. Itís too bad that works,
but thatís the way that Washington works. And so, if you look at his [Inhofeís] reports, heís got a tremendous amount of money in PAC money. Probably about half of his money comes from PAC money, compared to a real small minority of mine.

Frank Keating:
Attract people to Oklahoma to regain Congressional seat

I would like to discuss the result and the challenges of the result of the loss of the congressional seat. In 1908, we had eight representatives, and then it was seven, and then it was six, and now it is five. People move to a place because they see it
as prosperity filled and business friendly. They move away from a state because they donít see it as prosperity filled and business friendly. Or they donít go to a state, in sufficient numbers, to permit us to be truly competitive with the states
around us. But this year, our agenda must be to get our congressman back. That is our agenda for the 2001 session.

Today, we have one overriding goal: To make Oklahoma so prosperous, so attractive, so energetic,
so reform minded, so desirable for business location for people and companies and jobs, that we will reclaim our congressional seat in 2011 and add one more. That is our agenda for the year 2001. We are going to get our congressman back.

Source: 2001 State of the State address to Oklahoma legislature
Feb 5, 2001

Winona LaDuke:
Supports increased party choices for voters

Q: Why are you running for Vice-President on the Green Party ticket?

A: Because people make bad decisions in Washington D.C. Those decisions affect Indian people, and all people, in ways that we are not aware of. I believe in the goals of
Ralph Nader and the Green Party because we have essentially a one-party system where all of us are ruled by corporate interests and we have less and less actual voice in how decisions are made.

Source: Interview in Oklahoma Indian Times
Jun 1, 2000

The above quotations are from State of Oklahoma Politicians: Archives.

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